Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Shinyokohama coffee survey

Yeah they just flattened some plastic baggies on there to make "ice."

Since starting my new temp job in Shinyokohama and falling asleep at said job (just for a sec, but still) on the afternoon of the second day, I have instituted the necessary policy of lunchtime iced coffee. It is finally summer in Japan, which means hot sweaty disgustingness all the live long day. Iced coffee is a two-pronged attack tool to get through it.

In my quest to find the perfect place to procure my lunch time fix, I canvassed all the coffee spots in a several block radius of my building. Here's what I came up with. All prices are for the smallest ice coffee.

Café Veloce: ¥190. Pretty good - this is the closest shop to work. Downside: Veloce is always fairly smoky, in all of their branches actually.

Café de Crie: ¥250. This place is fine. There's an outdoor terrace, which I haven't used yet, but which is a nice option.

Tully's: ¥300. Sorta spendy. They get a minus because they serve their for-here iced coffees in disposable plastic cups, the only place that does so. That being said, I like to take the dogs to the one near my house because it's one of the few places with outdoor seating in my 'hood.

Moriva Coffee: ¥180. I had never seen/heard of this place before running into it in Yokohama, but it does seem to be a chain. I noticed the second time I went there that the coffee was fair trade Kilimanjaro coffee (it says right there on the window!), and the third time that it was organic.

Doutor: ¥200. This cheap standard is downstairs in the subway station.

Hoshino Coffee: ¥480. This place is more kissaten than coffee shop, and I love their old signage. But it's a wait to be seated, coffee served in fussy brass cups, have lots of thick toast and hotcakes kind of place. Good to go if you have a nice long chunk of time to kill whiling away the afternoon.

For extra consideration:

Starbucks: ¥300. I don't go to S'bux, because they have enough money. Also one of the most expensive brews.

Subway:¥200. Not a coffee shop, but the drink is reduced to ¥180 if you buy food.

Freshness Burger: ¥300. Also spendy and not a coffee shop, but their product is high quality and their coffee is fair trade. I've extolled my love of FB before; they still have the Beans Burger and it's still delicious.

Daily Yamazaki: ¥130. The cheapest one, and it's fresh-ish, but seating is limited, and you're sitting at a convenience store.

The outcome:
Clearly Moriva is the jam; fair trade AND organic AND pretty much the cheapest one? It's my new fave coffee place and where you will find me most lunchtimes, eating my bento and drinking my iced coffee.